Often, the electrically-powered components of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are powered by a power source that is separate from the system itself. Some of these the electrically-powered components require significant continuous or intermittent power even when the system is not in a running cycle, thereby reducing the over-all energy efficiency of the system. Moreover, proposed government regulation of maximal off-cycle power consumption could limit the commercial viability of certain HVAC systems having high off-cycle power consumption requirements.